National teams looking to bounce back in Belgrade

Moving up in the standings will be a big goal for all six men’s national teams set to compete in Belgrade from Wednesday to Sunday in the second week of the Volleyball Nations League 2025.

After combining to secure just seven victories in 24 matches in the opening week of the tournament, Argentina, Germany, Iran, Cuba, the Netherlands and hosts Serbia are all in the lower half of the standings entering this week, when they will have each four opportunities to collect points and improve their situation as they compete for a spot in the VNL Finals.

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From all six teams set to get on the court at the Belgrade Arena this week, Argentina were the ones to have the best start. The South Americans played in Quebec two weeks ago and returned home with two victories, after taking down reigning Olympic champions France and hosts Canada – they’re ranked 12^th in the VNL 2025 with five points.

"I thought we did well in the first week," captain Agustín Loser reacted. "Our younger players showed a lot of good things, and the way they fought on the court was really important. It was a good start, but I think we can do better, and we'll try to do it here in Serbia."

Germany were also in Quebec, where they had a crazy week, losing three five-setters before they finally managed to beat France in their last match. With six points, the Europeans appear in 13^th place. This week, the Germans will be able to count on setter Johannes Tille and outside hitter Tobias Brand, who didn't make the trip to Canada.

"It was really important to have won that last match in Quebec, not so much for the points, but for our confidence," setter Jan Zimmermann said. "I thought we had chances to win even before, and leaving Canada with a victory was good for our mood."

Iran had a similarly tough week playing in Rio de Janeiro. The Asians lost their first three VNL 2025 matches, including back-to-back tie-breakers, before they were able to take rookies Ukraine down in their last match, also in five sets. With four points accumulated, the Asians enter the second week of competition as the 14^th-best-ranked team.

"Unfortunately, we didn't start well, but we believe that we're going to keep getting better game by game," opposite Bardia Saadat added. "I believe we can get a lot better in our coach's system. He knows a lot about the sport and every day he brings something new to us."

Also in Rio, Cuba caused one of the biggest upsets of the first week of the VNL 2025, taking down hosts Brazil. That, however, was the only victory the Caribbean managed to take home at the start of their campaign. With three points, they rank 15^th.

"We typically play very well against Brazil, I think our styles kind of match," middle blocker David Fiel remarked. "It was a very demanding match for us. Sadly, we couldn't win any other matches in the first week, but I think that, for the spirit of the team, getting that victory was very positive."

The Netherlands endured a long trip to Xi’an at the start of their VNL campaign and returned home with three points earned, thanks to a victory over Türkiye. The Europeans appear in 17^th place in the VNL standings before getting on the court this week in Belgrade.

"We want to win every match here this week, but we know it's not going to be an easy task," setter Wessel Keemink reflected. "We want to focus on each match, try to learn and be competitive. And then we'll see where we end up. At the stage we are now as a team, playing these matches is very important."

Hosts Serbia will count on the support of their fans to come back from a difficult opening week in Xi’an. After beating Türkiye in their first match, the Serbians lost three straight matches without even winning a set, and those results took them to the bottom of the VNL standings with three points.

"Playing at home this week will be amazing," opposite Dražen Luburić commented. "For all of our players, getting to play in front of our fans is like a dream coming true. I hope we can get a lot of support from them over the week."

Three matches on Wednesday

Wednesday will be a big day in Belgrade, with three matches taking place during the day. Germany and Cuba will go to the court first, at 13:00 local time (11:00 GMT), with the Netherlands and Argentina battling at 16:30 (14:30 GMT) and Serbia and Iran ending the day at 20:00 (18:00 GMT).

Thursday’s schedule has two matches, with Dutch and Germans meeting at 16:30 (14:30 GMT) and Serbians and Cubans facing each other at 20:00 (18:00 GMT). Friday’s matches will have the same start time, with Argentina and Iran playing first and the Netherlands and Cuba dueling later. The schedule will repeat on Saturday, with Germany vs. Iran at 16:30 (14:30 GMT) and Serbia vs. Argentina at 20:00 (18:00 GMT).

It's going to be three matches again on Sunday, with Iran and the Netherlands starting the day at 13:00 (11:00 GMT), Cuba and Argentina following at 16:30 (14:30 GMT) and Germany and Serbia ending the week at 20:00 (18:00 GMT).

VNL 2025 – Match Schedule & Results

Presenting a new format in 2025, the VNL will feature 18 national teams. In each of the three weeks of the Preliminary Phase, they will be split into three pools of six and will play four matches each. At the end of the Preliminary Phase, the seven best-ranked teams and hosts China will secure a spot in the Finals, which are going to be held in Ningbo from July 30 to August 3.

In the second week of the VNL, matches will also take place in Burgas, where hosts Bulgaria, France, Ukraine, Japan, Türkiye and Slovenia will compete, and Chicago, where hosts the United States, Italy, Poland, Canada, Brazil and China will be in action.

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